thehistoryofthrashpart22

    

PART XXII.
THE DECLINE.
THE LEGACY BANDS.
(1992-1997)

THE DECLINE

Thrash metal in the 1992–1997 era was a genre in freefall. The classic sound of the 80s: fast tempos, razor‑sharp riffing, shouted vocals, and aggressive, high‑energy songwriting was suddenly out of step with the musical climate. Grunge, groove metal, and alternative rock dominated the decade, and most thrash bands either softened their sound, slowed down, or experimented with outside influences to survive. The raw, speed‑driven attack that defined the genre was replaced in many cases by mid‑tempo riffs, darker production, and elements borrowed from industrial, hardcore, or even alternative metal. Some bands broke up, some went quiet, and others pushed into new territory with mixed results. Only a handful kept the traditional thrash sound alive, but even they struggled for attention in a market that had moved on.


METALLICA (1992-1997

From 1992 to 1993 Metallica were still riding the massive success of the Black Album, touring the world and becoming one of the biggest rock bands on the planet. Their sound and image continued to shift during these years, moving further away from their 80s thrash identity and toward a more polished, mainstream hard‑rock approach.

By 1994–1995 the band had begun writing the material that would become Load and Reload. The sessions produced a huge amount of music and reflected the band’s changing influences: blues‑based riffs, alternative rock elements, and a more experimental attitude. The transformation in both sound and appearance was already underway, setting the stage for the full stylistic break that would arrive in 1996.

In 1996 Metallica returned to the studio and recorded Load and around this time the band adopted a new image, cutting their hair and appearing in designer clothing, which only intensified the divide among fans. Load debuted at number one on the Billboard charts and sold over five million copies, a massive success even if it didn’t reach the heights of the Black Album. The fanbase split into two camps: those who longed for the old thrashing Metallica, and those who embraced the band’s new, more accessible direction.

Metallica had written so much material during the Load sessions that they released Reload just a year later, strengthening their mainstream presence to the frustration of the remaining old‑school thrash loyalists. The album produced major hits like “Fuel” and "The Memory Remains." With thrash metal deeply out of fashion in the mid‑90s, Metallica showed no intention of returning to their earlier sound.

Metallica (lol)

MEGADETH (1992–1997)

After watching Metallica break into the mainstream with their 1991 self‑titled album, Dave Mustaine recognized that Megadeth needed a change as well. The result was Countdown to Extinction (1992), a more streamlined and mid‑tempo record compared to the technical ferocity of Rust in Peace. The album peaked at number two on the Billboard charts, went double‑platinum, and became the band’s most commercially successful release.

Megadeth continued this direction with Youthanasia in 1994, which reached number four and quickly went platinum. The band documented the recording process in the Evolver film. They followed it with Hidden Treasures, a compilation of rare tracks and covers that closed out their mid‑90s output. In 1997 they released the even more accessible Cryptic Writings. She-Wolf and The Disintegrators had that metallic edge but overall this was Megadeth leaning into rock territory.

Megadeth

SLAYER (1992–1997)

In 1991 Slayer toured the United States with Anthrax and Alice in Chains and released the double live album Decade of Aggression. After Seasons in the Abyss, the rise of grunge made it difficult for Slayer’s aggressive style to find its place in the changing musical landscape.

In 1994 they released Divine Intervention, one of the last major American thrash albums of the decade. Reviews were mixed, but the album stayed true enough to Slayer’s roots to satisfy most thrash fans. In 1996 they released Undisputed Attitude, a collection of punk covers paying tribute to the bands that originally inspired them.

ANTHRAX (1992–1996)

In 1992 Anthrax parted ways with vocalist Joey Belladonna due to creative differences and brought in John Bush from Armored Saint. This lineup change marked a shift away from their thrash origins toward a heavier rock sound with occasional groove influences. The band left Island Records for Elektra and released Sound of White Noise in 1993, their first album with Bush. The single "Only" became the standout track. Shortly after the album’s release, longtime guitarist Dan Spitz left the band.

Anthrax followed up with Stomp 442 in 1995, another step away from their thrash roots. Paul Crook and Dimebag Darrell contributed guitar parts to replace Spitz. Stomp 442 became their final release on Elektra.

EXODUS (1992-1996)

In 1992 Exodus released their Force of Habit album, which had a strange cover art and a few moments inspired by the alternative rock sounds of the 90's. The album is in retrospect seen as one of the bands weakest moments. By then the band had a new bassist in Michael Butler who replaced Rob McKillop. Some time after the Force of Habit-album the band decided to part ways and Gary Holt cut his hair short. In 1997 Paul Baloff returned to the band and they released the live album Another Lesson in Violence, the only release he appeared on besides 1985's Bonded By Blood. 

TESTAMENT (1992-1996)

In 1992, Testament released their fifth studio album titled The Ritual. It had a few softer tracks to fit in into the changing musical landscape. The album peaked at 55th place on the Billboard list. Electric Crown and Return to Serenity became the two big songs from the album. This was still a part of the classic Testament era, before lineup changes and the changing musical landscape changed the bands sound.

In 1993 lead guitarist Alex Skolnick and drummer Louie Clemente left the band. Skolnick wanted to play more melodic material and joined Savatage and later started his own jazz project. They were replaced by Forbidden members Glen Alvelais and Paul Bostaph. The lineup released the 1993 live EP, Return to Apocalyptic City. Soon afterwards Glen Alvelais quit the band and Paul Bostaph left to join Slayer.

In 1994 drummer John Tempesta and guitarist James Murphy joined the band. The lineup of Peterson, Billy, Christian, Tempesta and Murphy then recorded the bands sixth studio album Low. The album was a minor department from the bands classic sound. With influences of death and groove metal. After the release of Low drummer John Tempesta left the band and Testament recruited John Dette. But John Dette only remained within the band for the 1995 tour. Dette left to temporarily join Slayer. In stepped Chris Kontos. In 1996 Testament suffered even more lineup changes when Greg Christian, James Murphy and Chris Kontos left the band. This was a low-point in the bands career and they considered a name change to Dog Faced Gods, but Chuck Billy and Eric Peterson wanted to keep the Testament name.

In 1997 Testament released the album 'Demonic' that sticks out a bit in their discography since it leaned heavily into death metal. 

DEATH ANGEL (1992-1997)

In 1992 Andy Galeon had fully recovered and the remaining Death Angel members minus Mark Osegueda reformed under the name The Organization (Name taken from a track on their third album). Rob Cavestany took over the vocals. The Organization was not really a thrash metal band, instead they were more of an alternative rock band with funk influences. The band toured the States and Europe, opening for Rob Halford and Motörhead. The Organization released two albums; The Organization in 1993 and Savor the Flavour in 1995. The albums were distributed by Metal Blade Records. The albums didn't sell and Dennis Pepa decided to leave the band and The Organization folded.

OVERKILL (1992-1997)

The nineties was a confusing time for Overkill, After the huge success with Horrorscope, Overkill recorded the I Hear Black album together with Alex Parialas. It was the first album to be directly released through Atlantic Records and it was a departure from their early thrash sound.The band adopted a slightly more bluesy Black Sabbath-inspired sound. They recorded a video for the track Spiritual Void, but it passed by without much notice. In retrospect, I Hear Black can't be seen as anything else but a disappointment. In 1993 Overkill went on tour with Savatage.

In the summer of 1994 Overkill released another album, it was titled W.F.O. which stands for Wide Fuckin' Open. It was a slight return to their thrashier roots but when it comes to song-writing the album wasn't on par with their more successful past. The video for Fast Junkie was pretty much ignored by the media because of the ongoing Grunge era. Overkill once again toured Europe, this time with Jag Panzer and Massacra. W.F.O. wasn't the success the band hoped for and in 1995 the band left Atlantic Records.

In 1995 Overkill released their first live album called Wrecking Your Neck. In late 1995 both guitarists Merrit Gant and Rob Cannavino left the band and in came Joe Comeau, former vocalist in speed metal band Liege Lord. Overkill also recruited formed Anvil guitarist Sebastian Marino. The new lineup hired Judas Priest producer Chris Tsangarides for their 1996 album, The Killing Kind. The album was another change in direction and Overkill included groove metal elements into their sound. The band toured with the likes of Accuser and Anvil to promote the album. In 1997 the band released From the Underground and below which passed by without much fanfare.

Overkill

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM (1992-1997)

In 1992 bassist Troy Gregory departed to join Prong. Holding auditions in Phoenix, the band hired Jason Ward to fill the role. In 1992 the band released Cuatro, an album that marked an evolution in style and songwriting. The band released four singles this time, two of which ("Swatting at Flies" and "Wading Through the Darkness") were shot as music videos. Wading Through the Darkness received regular rotation on MTV during their tours that year. But stylistically this was a step away from thrash metal into a more mainstream metal territory.

In 1995 Flotsam and Jetsam released Drift, which was even further steps away from their original thrash sound, by now Flotsam and Jetsam had a sound similar more similar to the alternative rock bands of the 90's than their American thrash brethren. To promote the album they toured with Megadeth and Korn. But the commercial success never came  for Flotsam that desperately wanted their big break. MCA Records and Flotsam and Jetsam parted ways and the band returned to Metal Blade. In 1997 Flotsam and Jetsam released the album High, which was a more up-tempo album but still far from their thrashy roots.

Kelly David-Smith and Michael Gilbert left the band after the release and were replaced by guitarist Mark Simpson and drummer Craig Nielsen. With the new line-up Flotsam and Jetsam toured in Europe together with Canadian metal legends Anvil and Exciter.

SODOM (1992-1996)

Sodom recorded and released Tapping the Vein in 1992. The album was Sodom's most brutal to date, as it was bordering to death metal. But then original drummer Chris Witchhunter Dudek was fired from the band and Tom Angelripper recruited Atomic Steif, known for his time in Living Death and Holy Moses. Tom Angelripper was satisfied with getting Atomic Steif into his band and he called him Germany's answer to Dave Lombardo (Slayer).

In the mid nineties Sodom dumped the death metal influences and instead few more influences from punk and hardcore music. In 1993 Sodom released the EP Aber Bitte Mit Sahne. In 1993 former Sodom guitarist Michael 'Destructor' Wulf died in a motorcycle accident. In 1994 the band released Get What You Deserve and the album didn't do that well with fans and critics. The same can be said about 1995's Masquerade in Blood, which featured new guitarist Strahli, but his drug problems made it impossible for him to stay in the band. In the mid nineties Thrash metal had long passed it's peak and not that many people cared about Sodom any longer and Tom Angelripper started a solo-project. After Masquerade in Blood Sodom left the Steamhammer label.

In 1996 Atomic Steif also decided to leave the band and Tom Angelripper stood there without band members or a record deal. But Tom didn't give up, instead he recruited guitarist Bernd 'Bernemann' Kost and drummer Konrad 'Bobby' Schottkowski.

KREATOR (1992-1997)

The nineties was a confusing time for Kreator, when the grunge wave hit Kreator struggled to find their identity, which led the band to start experimenting with industrial metal. In 1992 Kreator released the album Renewal, the album was produced by Tom Morris (Sepultura) but the album ended up with rather terrible reviews. The band got criticized for selling out and because the band adopted an industrial sound. After touring South America, founding member Rob Fioretti left Kreator.

He was replaced by bassist Andreas Herz for a while before Kreator recruited Christian Giesler. In 1994 Jurgen 'Ventor' Reil left Kreator and Mille Petrozza became the bands only original member. Reil was replaced by Joe Cangelosi. To make things worse, Epic dropped Kreator. Kreator signed to G.U.N. Records and in 1995 they released Cause For Conflict. The album drew influences from Pantera and Machine Head and the album was more or less a failure. In 1996 Joe Cangelosi and Frank 'Blackfire' Gosdzik left Kreator and in stepped original member Jurgen 'Ventor' Reil and Tommy Vetterli aka Tommy T. Baron of Coroner. In 1997 Kreator released Outcast. It was a dark, experimental mid-tempo record.

Kreator - Outcast (1997)

DESTRUCTION (1992-1998)

In 1994 Destruction released a self-titled EP with a brand new lineup of vocalist Thomas Rosenmerkel, Drummer Oliver Kaiser, Bassist Christian Engler, Guitarists Mike Sifringer and Michael Piranio. The EP was released through the Brain Butcher label and it was a total failure.

But despite the setback, Destruction continued on and released the Them Not Me Ep in 1995, it was another disaster and the bands future was in real doubt now. But the band plowed on yet again and released the album The Least Successful Human Cannonball in 1998 and by now the band gave up their classic logo for the first time. From a thrash metal point of view, Destruction's music post-Cracked Brain (1990) was questionable to say the least and in retrospect the band has disowned the Thomas Rosenmerkel era of Destruction.

TANKARD (1992–1997)

Tankard kept going through the 90s without selling out. They released Stone Cold Sober in 1992, Two‑Faced in 1994, The Tankard in 1995, and Disco Destroyer in 1997, sticking to their beer‑fueled thrash while most other bands collapsed or shifted styles. Sure, there were a slightly bigger punk emphasis during this period but Tankard was still recognizable. 

HOLY MOSES (1992–1997)

Holy Moses stayed active through the 90s, releasing Reborn Dogs (1992) and No Matter What’s the Cause (1994). Their sound leaned into hardcore and groove influences but still kept a thrash backbone. They were one of the few German thrash bands who didn’t break up during the genre’s collapse.

SEPULTURA (1992-1997)

In 1993 Sepultura released the rather successful Chaos A.D. It was a new era for the band and their first departure from the death / thrash sound that made them famous. On Chaos A.D. the band added elements of hardcore, groove, industrial metal as well as some Brazilian tribal drumming. After Chaos A.D. Max and Igor Cavalera started a side project called Nailbomb continuing the industrial influences of Chaos A.D.. Nailbomb was disbanded soon afterwards and Sepultura continued on their journey away from thrash with the release of Roots in 1996. A hugely influential and popular album that sold over two million copies worldwide.

It was also the last album to feature founding member and front man Max Cavalera. Some people claim that Sepultura's creativity went south when he left the band but one must remember that Sepultura started to move away from thrash after the release of Arise from 1991. Roots was an extremely influential record, It was certainly not a thrash metal album and it changed metal for the worse as it became an influence for the upcoming nu-metal wave.

Sepultura - Roots (1996)

RAZOR (1992-1998)

Razor spent most of the 90s inactive after Shotgun Justice (1990) and Open Hostility (1991). The band essentially went dormant as thrash died out, only resurfacing later in the decade with Decibels (1997), a raw but divisive groove metal influenced comeback.

ANNIHILATOR (1992-1998)

Annihilator stayed active throughout the 90s, shifting between melodic thrash and more modern influences. Set the World on Fire (1993) was a disappointment after their legendary first two records Alice in Hell (1989) and Never, Neverland (1990). King of the Kill (1994), and Refresh the Demon (1996) kept Jeff Waters busy even as the genre around him collapsed.

SACRIFICE (1992-1998)

Sacrifice released Apocalypse Inside in 1993, a darker, more technical thrash record that became their final album before the band split. After that, they disappeared from the scene entirely until their reunion many years later.

FORBIDDEN (1992–1997)

Forbidden survived the 90s by shifting away from pure thrash. Distortion (1994) brought groove and alternative influences, and Green (1997) pushed even further into 90s heaviness. Both albums showed a band trying to adapt rather than disappear, even if the classic thrash sound was mostly gone. But I think that most of their fans missed the sound the band had on Forbidden Evil and Twisted Into Form.

SADUS (1992–1997)

Sadus released A Vision of Misery in 1992, a technical and progressive thrash album that became their last release of the decade. After that they went mostly inactive, with members drifting into other projects (notably Steve DiGiorgio working with Death). They essentially vanished until their 1997 return, Elements of Anger.

WHIPLASH (1992–1997)

Whiplash resurfaced mid‑decade with Cult of One (1996) and Sit Stand Kneel Prey (1997), albums that leaned heavily into groove and modern metal rather than their old speed‑thrash attack.

EXHORDER (1992–1997)

Exhorder split in 1994 after releasing The Law, their disappearance becoming one of the clearest examples of how the 90s crushed even the most influential bands.


DEMOLITION HAMMER (1992–1997)
Demolition Hammer tried to adapt with Time Bomb in 1994, a groove‑leaning record far removed from their earlier brutality, and the band folded soon after.


ICED EARTH (1992–1997)
From 1992 to 1997, Iced Earth transformed from a rising underground force into one of the most distinctive American metal bands of the decade. They became one of the few bands that thrived during the 90's. Maybe because of their signature blend of power, thrash and dramatic storytelling. Night of the Stormrider (1991) had set the stage, but the arrival of vocalist Matt Barlow in 1993 reshaped the band’s identity. His deep, dramatic voice became the emotional core of Burnt Offerings (1995), a darker, heavier record that pushed the band toward a more epic, narrative‑driven style. Two years later, The Dark Saga (1996) refined that approach with tighter songwriting and a concept inspired by Todd McFarlane’s Spawn. By the time they released the sprawling, ambitious Days of Purgatory (1997), a re‑recording of early material with Barlow’s vocals.

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